


Broken Promise

by SirPanda



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, POV Second Person, Unrequited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-07
Updated: 2013-10-07
Packaged: 2017-12-28 16:42:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/994186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirPanda/pseuds/SirPanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They are what have kept you going all this time.<br/>Without them, you wouldn’t know what to do.<br/>They’re your whole world and you need to protect them.<br/>But…right now, you’re failing at that, aren’t you?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Broken Promise

You never thought things would come to this.

You thought it would have been as simple as capturing Eren and taking him to their village, with no in-betweens. Well, not exactly that, you knew there were going to be repercussions, just not the over-the-top scheme the commander had in mind. You were most certainly not prepared for that. And the fact that your titan is incapable of running faster than a horse put you, and everyone you are carrying, at risk.

You try not to think about it, what could happen now that they’ve caught up, behind them a slew of ravenous titans sprinting your way (no thanks to the beloved commander of the recon corps.) It’s hard, honestly, to not wonder what were to happen if you stumbled now, what would happen if you’d put the man most dearest to you at risk.

Ah, yes, that’s something he really doesn’t want his mind to wander to because he is all he has left.

Annie was captured, much to both your devastations, but you knew you couldn’t let this put you off for the rest of the mission. After all, coming this far isn’t as easy as picking daisies. You had to keep moving, for the sake of your future together.

Future.

The word lingers.

You don’t know that there will be a future together, not at this rate. Soldiers have already climbed your back and you just missed a titans gnashing teeth on your leg.

It would be stupidly ignorant to say that you’re going to pull through this successfully. There’s no way it will happen, but you can’t give up, for the sake of those you love.

 For the sake of Bertholdt and Annie.

They are what have kept you going all this time.

Without them, you wouldn’t know what to do.

They’re your whole world and you need to protect them.

But…right now, you’re failing at that, aren’t you?

You’re surrounded.

There’s no way for you to escape and you’ve allowed Eren to be taken at this point while desperately trying to protect Bertholdt with your hands. You can’t lose him, if you lost him…you probably wouldn’t be able to survive. You can’t, you _can’t._ It’s too late now, though, you’ve failed. At this point-wait.

You see something on the ground in front of you.

It’s the corpse of a body with the maneuver still intact. You scoop it up with your free hand and tug the body off it, discarding it thereafter. You speculate it for a brief moment. It has enough gas to go on for a few miles. That’s enough, you think, yeah. That’s perfect.

You retract the hand that is gently cradling Bertholdt against your neck and there he is, sitting on your palm with a strained, panicked expression on his face.

You wish you could say something to him, _something._ But it’s difficult, to spend your energy on trivial goodbyes. Still, it hurts you knowing that the last words you ever spoke to him weren’t something memorable.

You place the gear next to him; he gives you a puzzled look, then, a moment of epiphany. He realizes what you have in mind. He pushes it away and yells at you that this isn’t the only way to survive, that you’ll both make it out. Haha, you want to tell him to stop playing silly.

He stares you down, a hard, stern glare, one that you haven’t seen cross your eyes before until now. It’s nice to know, at least, that you’re the one person to have him display an array of emotions.

…

There’s not much longer to this.

You’re barely out of reach from the titans as wells as the soldiers.

Only one of you will survive and you God damn know it isn’t going to be you.

Struggling to form a word or two, your voice comes out a gargled mess as you say, “Be…Good…” to Bertholdt, who upon those words leaving your lips, begins to cry.

Oh, you hate that, seeing his tears; they hurt more so because you’re causing them, still, as long as he lives, that’s all that matters.

Bertholdt clumsily straps on the gear and readies himself to leap off your hand, his back to you. He cranes his head to meet your eyes for one last time.

“…Goodbye, Reiner.”

He leaps off your hand and skillfully uses the 3D gear on nearby trees for his escape. They aren’t those large tress, but normal sized ones, which makes it tremendously difficult for the soldiers to pursue him. Still, they attempt to, but you stop them when you grab the nearest titan to your left and hurl it at them.

 _No one will touch Bertholdt, no one,_ is what you tell yourself as you turn to face the mob of titans and humans alike. You know you’re going to die here today, but that doesn’t mean you can’t put up a fight. However that is damn near impossible.

There’s too many and soon you’re on your back with titans tearing at you left and right. They rip apart your armor plated skin and feast on the supple flesh underneath.

 _Shit,_ you think, _it really does hurt._

Yeah, it does.

But…you don’t feel all that anymore, not after awhile at least. Instead a calm sort of washes over you and your mind is flooded with memories of you, Bertholdt, and Annie.

You’ve always been together, and you all made a pact that no matter what was to happen it would stay that way.

You wonder if Annie will be angry to hear that you’ve broken it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> OH GOSH IVE BEEN POSTING SO MUCH LATELY its gr8 amirite  
> yeah so this was gonna be reibert  
> but then i angsted and  
> yeah  
> this is the result  
> hope you liked it!


End file.
